Voice of cycling reflects on Armstrong's admissions

The man known as the voice of cycling, Phil Liggett, gives his response to Lance Armstrong's Oprah Winfrey interview.

Transcript

TRACY BOWDEN, PRESENTER: And for his reaction to that interview I spoke earlier to the voice of cycling, Phil Liggett, who is in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under.

Phil Liggett, you've worked very closely with Lance Armstrong. You've been one of his greatest supporters and admirers. Tell me how you felt as you watched him admit to being a drug cheat and lying for all those years.

PHILIP LIGGETT, CYCLING COMMENTATOR: Well I think over this last three or four months we've all become prepared for the statement that he has just made on the Oprah program.

He has admitted using all sorts of drugs, from EPO, human growth hormones, cortisone, blood transfusions, with the single word "Yes, I did."

And so I guess we feel a little bit let down, but at the time we covered his seven Tour de France victories in what we saw, which was a great athlete practising his sport.

But now we know totally different to that.

TRACY BOWDEN: How do you view his sporting achievements now? You say you feel a little bit let down.

PHILIP LIGGETT: He hasn't got any sporting achievements as far as I can see, although he's categorically said also in the program that he has never taken any drugs since 2005 which means that his third place in the Tour de France after his comeback would still stand.

But you know, you can't believe him now because he has sworn and perjured himself to say he never took drugs and yet- but the same words were used in the interview, when he was saying he did take drugs. You can't no longer believe a word he says I'm afraid.

TRACY BOWDEN: He says that he's sorry. Do you believe that he's genuinely apologetic or do you think that he just had no choice but to say that?

PHILIP LIGGETT: Look, he obviously had no choice. If he chose to come clean he would have to apologise. I think he is sincere in certain apologies, like the apologies he has made to his Livestrong Foundation which is very dear to his heart and he's certainly sorry for the staff who worked so hard, who believed in him and defended him, and I'm sure he's particularly sorry to his parent, Linda his mum, and to his wife, his partner rather, and his kids.

That's something he's got to face up to now. These are the people nearest to him. I think it's fair to say there are not too many people who can say they're close to Lance Armstrong because he's not that sort of guy. He's a control freak. He's told us that. He's arrogant. He's a bully. He has a desire to win second to none. These are his real characters coming through.

And at the end of the day I really think he doesn't realise the enormity of what he has done. It is the biggest sporting deceit in the history of sport anywhere in the world in any sport. And so I'm not sure how much he is repenting.

TRACY BOWDEN: So on that basis, Phil, if it is that big, what should happen to him, in what way should he be punished?

PHILIP LIGGETT: Well, we all know when he was in the driving seat if you like, anybody that spoke out against him, he sued and he normally sued successfully. He called them bad names, especially his masseuse, Emma O'Reilly, especially Betsy Andreu, one of his team mates' wives. He claims to have made his peace with at least, a temporary peace with these people now.

If he's perjured himself then he will be chased up by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I'm sure of that. The people who are suing him from newspapers will want their money back because they lost their case originally. Now it's time for the boot to be on the other foot as it were.

The Tour de France will no doubt want their prize money back and there's some $3 million owing there. It goes on and on. And Lance knows it's not going to go away probably ever.

TRACY BOWDEN: Should he go to jail?

PHILIP LIGGETT: He could go to jail, unless they do what Americans often do and that's make deals outside the courtroom, otherwise he could expect a jail sentence, of course.

TRACY BOWDEN: Phil he described it as a professional, smart operation. Does that again raise the question of how did it possibly go on for so long undetected?

PHILIP LIGGETT: Well, that was the one disappointing side of the program so far because it's being continued. But at the moment, Lance has said this is about me and he's not talking about anybody else - cyclists, helpers, anybody else. This is purely about him admitting to taking drugs.

He couldn't have done it alone. He couldn't have got away for so long. In effect, he's never given a positive drug test and he has probably taken 500 with at least four different agencies testing him.

I remember the days when three different agencies tested him on the same day and they all came back with a negative response. So there must be other people involved. And the question is, is he going to tell us in the second program who those people were?

TRACY BOWDEN: So far do you think Oprah has done a good job?

PHILIP LIGGETT: She did an okay job for somebody that knows nothing about sport. I think the questions would've been much harder if it was on a documentary-type program. They would've drilled for the heart and made him give the answers. I think she let him off a bit lightly at times.

TRACY BOWDEN: What so far is the one thing that hasn't been asked that you'd like answered?

PHILIP LIGGETT: Well he's gone halfway. He's told us he took drugs. He's told us how long he took drugs. He swears categorically he's never taken drugs since '05, since his comeback period. That's all behind us now.

But where did he get the drugs from? Where did all the big money go to pay for those drugs because it's very, very expensive to buy EPO? Who gave him the knowhow, the wherewithal to do it?

He shied away from the answer about needles in Coke cans. He said, "I can't remember about that". How can you forget if you put a needle in a Coke can? You must remember. So I still want to see it continue and I want to get to the bottom and see the full truth.

TRACY BOWDEN: Should Lance Armstrong be allowed to compete in professional sport again?

PHILIP LIGGETT: If he serves his time, yes, because he hasn't murdered anybody. He's not a serial killer or a rapist. Providing he serves his time, yes. But now his hands, his sentence is now very much in the hands of the drug testing agencies and the UCI.

At the moment he's banned for life and I think the reason he has come out is because he wants to compete at triathlon level again. At 41 years of age he's hardly going to threaten the world but the fact is he can't get sport out of his blood and that hurts him.